Seattle Storm fall to Golden State Valkyries in Flau'jae Johnson's debut

In the first game of the season, Flau'jae Johnson received some of the loudest cheers of the night from the Climate Pledge Arena crowd during player introductions and, fittingly, the effervescent rookie guard canned the game's first basket - a rainbow three-pointer.

The Storm raced out to a fast start in Friday's opener, fell behind by 20 points and mounted a halfhearted comeback near the end while providing glimpses of what to expect over the next four months during a 91-80 loss against the Golden State Valkyries that spoiled Sonia Raman's coaching debut in the WNBA.

"We did a good job of battling," Raman said. "The game started to get away from us a little bit in the third quarter, and I thought we did a good job of digging in and staying together and trying to battle."

Second-year center Dominique Malonga received her first WNBA start and gave the Valkyries fits around the rim while using her speed and athleticism to score inside to tally a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds.

"We had a pretty good start," said Malonga, who converted eight of 15 shots. "We were really ready. We had a great training camp. Everybody was really ready the first minute. Of course, we knew it would be a hard game. We knew it was going to be physical. Their defense is really on point. They play really great together.

"They had a run, a run where we were less energetic. In the second half, we just kept fighting. I think we fought until the end. And even if the result is not the one we wanted, this is Game 1 and we'll just get better from that."

Backup guards Zia Cooke (15 points) and Jade Melbourne (13 points), who lost half of her front tooth after falling to the floor, provided a much-needed scoring boost off the bench.

Meanwhile, Johnson struggled offensively while connecting on three of 12 shots for 12 points in her WNBA debut.

"Shout out to Grace (VanSlooten) and Flau'jae for scoring their first career points," Melbourne said. "But we discussed in the locker room that's the worst we're going to be for the rest of the season."

The Storm were generally pleased with their offensive performance considering they shot 41.3% from the field and 34.6% on three-pointers.

Seattle committed 14 turnovers and had 16 assists, but the Storm finished with more free-throw attempts than Golden State (27 to 22) and shot 70.4% at the line.

The Storm were particularly dismayed by their perimeter defense, which allowed the Valkyries to can 40.5% of their shots behind the arc (15 of 37).

"When that happens, it's a tough night to be completely honest," Melbourne said. "So, that's probably on us. We need to adjust more."

Raman added, "The defense, obviously, is the side of the ball we have to keep focusing on."

It was an uneven performance from the short-handed Storm, who were missing Ezi Magbegor (foot) and Katie Lou Samuelson (knee) due to injuries while first-round draft pick Awa Fam is in Spain playing for Valencia Basket.

Without so much firepower, Seattle had difficulty keeping pace with Golden State, which overwhelmed the Storm with a relentless inside-out attack.

Guards Veronica Burton (16 points) and Kaitlyn Chen (12 points) repeatedly scored on dribble-drive layups while Janelle Salaun sank (20 points) with five three-pointers and Kayla Thornton (13 points) drained three from long range for the Valkyries, who shot 41.9% from the floor.

"That's probably the biggest area that we talked about in the locker room," Raman said. "Going into the game, it was a focal point. There's a lot to clean up there. I'm looking forward to being able to pull those clips and sit down with the team and we can look through it again and keep emphasizing what the rotations are that will take many of those threes away in the future.

"It's just a matter of continuing to get comfortable with those rotations and being able to have those multiple (defensive) efforts."

The baskets that fell with frequency in the first half for the Storm, who led 20-13 early on, stopped falling in the second half.

Seattle trailed 49-41 at the break and lost control of the game in the third quarter while being outscored 20-12 in the period and shooting 18.8% (3 of 16).

"Our defense was impacting that," Raman said regarding the offensive struggles. "If we're not getting stops, we're not able to get out and run. They were able to pressure us a little bit more in those settings."

Note

- Mayor Katie Wilson attended Friday night's game and sat courtside next to Storm CEO and president Alisha Valavanis.

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